


the days have lost their colors

by Emgirl16



Category: Fable (Video Games), Fable 2 (Video Game), Fable 3 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, F/F, F/M, Family, Female Hero of Brightwall, Female Sparrow - Freeform, Friendship, Grief/Mourning, I'm Sorry, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, Logan is spared, Multi, Original Character Death(s), Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Possessive Reaver, Reaver is his own warning, Short Chapters, Slight Violence, Tissue Warning, there's some minor fluff, this wouldn't leave me alone til i wrote it, what happens after your whole family is murdered
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 16:56:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15077609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emgirl16/pseuds/Emgirl16
Summary: Sparrow grieves for the loss of her children.Or: Remember how Lucien murders all your families and it is never mentioned again? I fixed that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, like most of my ideas this wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it.

Hammer is the one that finds her, holding what is left of Marcus.

 

Her baby, her  _son_.

 

Beside him is Alex. He was not the most exciting husband, but he was always gentle and kind.

 

Her other child, Luke, lies still in his crib.

 

"Oh,  _Avo_!" Hammer gasps.

 

Sparrow does not move; she simply stares into tiny, unseeing eyes.

 

Max whines mournfully next to her, his head on the ground and his ears lowered.

 

This was the last house on her list.

 

 

Most would consider her unfaithful or loose, she and her spouses just thought she had a lot of love to give. 

 

They were a strange but loving family. They met frequently during the year and exchanged letters their children were always excited to see their brothers and sisters, and they called the other parents "aunt" or "uncle".

 

But now they were gone.

 

Sweet and raunchy Lucy, who was a whore in Bloodstone. She loved the freedom and acceptance Sparrow gave her. She just finished her autobiography, was going to get it published.

 

Quiet and clam Brian, a farmer in Oakfield. He loved his solitude almost as much as he loved Sparrow and their daughter Marie. He could play the lute better than any traveling bard and loved to haggle over the price of his crops. Sparrow never got to tell him about the giant farm she got in Brightwood, how she wanted to run it together.

 

Her spirited Caleb, a boy she had grown up with. The held a deep friendship and were more understanding than most couples. He could tell a story like no other, captivating their girls, Diana and Lilly. 

 

Finally, there was Alex, a man who just wanted a peaceful life and happiness. He loved sitting in their little garden and listening to her adventures. He was a romantic and damn good father. Their son Marcus was a lot like her, mischievous and charming. Alex was always waiting when the sheriff brought him home for his pranks with a stern face and a loving talk. He wrote her often about her youngest, Luke, and all the words he was learning to say.

 

They were all gone,  _dead_.

 

It was more than even a hero could take.

 

She tried so desperately to keep hope, ignoring Theresa's summons just so she could find one.  _There had to be one that was still alive._

 

But today she had arrived at the last house.

 

 

"We were trying to find you." Hammer tells her, tears leaking from her eyes, "We were checking their houses! I'm so -"

 

" _Don't_." Sparrow whispers. "Please, don't."

 

Because then it will be real, but it can't be.

 

_It can't be real._

 

Her sister's death was one thing, it was both the loss of her family and her innocence.

 

This was a new and harder pain.

 

_Her children were dead._

 

She had carried them each for nine months, named them, nursed them, loved them no matter where she was.

 

And Lucien had taken them away.

 

She supposed he justified it to himself, told himself they'll be resurrected to live in peace.

 

Her hatred for him will learn new depths if she can ever stop feeling this all-consuming pain.

 

It is like every wound she ever felt all at once. Like standing in the Temple of Shadows. Like an unending darkness has settled on her shoulders more than her duty ever had.

 

All she can see is their wide eyes and still bodies.

 

 

Marie wanted to be a writer, which means she got along great with Lucy. She was far too young for Bloodstone, but Lucy visited as often as she could. It greatly shocked the town the first time it happened, but they soon grew used to it. 

 

Diana was her eldest child, as well as her eldest daughter. She was responsible and smart. She had a way with sowing and wanted to be apprenticed in Sparrow's shop in Bowerstone. Sparrow was going to leave it to her once she got old enough.

 

Lily wanted to be a tattoo artist, of all things. She pestered the local one constantly until he agreed to let her watch him work every day. Sparrow supported Lily in her dream, though it amused her to no end.

 

Marcus was her eldest son, he wanted to be a hero. She was going to start training him in swordplay soon, or maybe pistols. She was going to take him adventuring and retire knowing the world was in his good hands. 

 

Luke was too young to tell her his dreams and hopes. Maybe he would have been a baker, with the best pies in the country. Maybe he would have been a blacksmith, a soldier, or even a beautician. 

 

He would never get the chance to dream.

 

 

Sparrow sits quietly lets Hammer take Marcus carefully from her arms.

 

She drifts deep into her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should mention that the OCs are the spouses and children from Fable 2.

She holds her head high throughout it all, that is one thing all her loved ones would have wanted.

 

 

Alex and the boys are put into a tomb in Bowerstone. The ceremony attracts the entire city.

 

_"I don't want to be buried out of the city." Alex tells her, as they stroll through town. "This is the place where I've been most happy. This is my home."_

 

 

Lucy is cremated, with her ashes thrown into the sea she loved so much.

 

_"I grew up on a ship before me Da died." She whispered in their bedroom one night._

 

_"I miss the feeling of the ocean beneath my feet." She sighs._

 

_Sparrow decides immediately that she will take her on a trip to Knothole Island. Hell, she'll take the whole family._

 

 

Brian and Marie are laid in a quiet little cemetery in Oakfield. 

 

_"I've never feared death, Darlin'." He tells her as they visit the Temple of Light. "Just have a round for me in the pub and move along with your life."_

 

 

Caleb the girls are buried in the traditional way. Hammer hires a man to prepare their bodies. Their caskets are filled with coins. The Caravan has a short procession through the woods until they reach a small meadow.

 

_"I'll die defending my family." He says, with a calm sense of knowing in his eyes. "Promise me you'll be happy, Love."_

 

_She promises and ignores the chill in her bones. Caleb has a way of knowing things._

 

_She prays this time he'll be wrong._

 

 

Then the world calls for her again, she doesn't have the luxury of grieving just yet.

 


	3. Chapter 3

When everything is over and done, her dog is dead.

 

It is the last string keeping her sanity intact. 

 

 

The others go their own ways, off to have new adventures.

 

She goes to Oakfield, to a sanctuary most can't enter. It is a little homestead, a pleasant surprise she found through a demon door when she and Brian were engaged.

 

She spends almost a year alone until duty comes calling for her again.

 

 

They call her the Queen of Albion now. She owns houses and business in every town. She has righted wrongs and vanquished almost every bandit gang around. She is the Crucible's Champion, the Hero of Bowerstone, and Lucien's Downfall.

 

They want her to wear the crown.

 

_(Nobody speaks about the blood on her hands, bloody cribs, or empty houses.)_

 

So, she rules from a distance, making appearances only when she must.

 

In a way, this burden is a blessing. It distracts her from her loneliness.

 

 

She has heard nothing of Garth in a long time, she assumes his studies took him beyond Albion's borders.

 

Hammer was still fighting the good fight, waging a war to end Balverines and Hollow Men.

 

Reaver- well that's _complicated_.

 

After the final stand, she received letters from him for some reason she can't fathom. They consisted mostly of him complaining about his minions and how boring people were. There was the occasional proposition for a little _"fun"_ , as he called it.

 

In a way, she was most comfortable with him after what happened. 

 

Reaver didn't know or care about her dead family. He didn't care about her morals or question her actions. He barely cared about her becoming royalty, only enough to half-joke-half-threaten her not to get in his way.

 

It still does not prepare for her to open her eyes to see him lying beside her in bed.

 

"Really, Little Dove?" He drawls. "You've lost your touch. Why, I could have sliced your throat open." He smiles, wicked and cold. "It's a good thing you still have your looks."

 

"Reaver?" She questions. "Why are you in my house?"

 

"I've recently grown a little thorn in my side." He frowns, displeased by whoever it is. "Some upstart has recently begun a little rebellion in Bloodstone. He's been insulting my good name, _trying to clean up the streets._ " He sneers. 

 

Sparrow rolls her eyes. "So, some idiot is challenging you, what does that have to do with me?"

 

"I thought you would be interested to know he enforces a strict, moral law." Reaver says, now playing nonchalantly. "He is particularly hard on the whores."

 

She stiffens.

 

It's almost as if-

 

She could smack herself, or course Reaver knows about her family. Reaver makes his business to know everything about his potential enemies.

 

"Oh, _yes_." He muses. "Sending the poor things into the Marsh, selling them to slavers, sometimes just simple hangings on the waterfront where he'll let the bodies rot away."

 

He has her then. Of course, she's going with him to rip this bastard apart. Because all she can see and hear is poor Lucy crying for help.

 

"Let me get my gear." She replies.

 

 

After they cut their way through an army of men, behead the asshole, and throw one hell of a celebration party at the bar, they head back to Reaver's mansion.

 

She's kissing him before she knows it. It's not some realization of love and passion, it's raw lust. It's desperation, loneliness, and the rush of battle roaring through her veins.

 

She's gone in the morning before he wakes.


	4. Chapter 4

She doesn't know for a while.

 

It's stupid of her, it's not like she doesn't know the signs. This would be her sixth-

 

_She should know by now._

 

 

In a surprising turn of events, it’s Swift who tells her to get checked out. When she looks at him curiously, he blushes and mumbles something about his mother being a midwife.

 

_Huh_ , that might come in handy.

 

Walter begins to act shy around her as well. He's happy that she's finally agreed to move into the castle and step up as queen full time, but he's apparently weirded out by pregnant women.

 

"It's a man thing." Her maid, Anna, tells her. "Some of them get bloody idiotic when a woman's expectin'." 

 

Anna is a Bloodstone native and has a wonderfully direct way of speaking. Sparrow is half in love with her and would have married her if she wasn't nearly 60 years old.

 

Hell, Sparrow might marry her anyway.

 

Jasper, her ever faithful and responsible attendant, would probably fight her for it.

 

She fights as long as she's able, before Swift and Anna finally convince her she's better off resting in the castle. 

 

Walter finally starts coming around again, apparently getting over whatever his issue was.

 

That means there is little to distract her when her fears come out to play.

 

 

Swift and Walter, arguable her best friends now that she's lost contact with Hammer and Reaver, walk in on her sobbing one day.

 

They immediately rush to her side.

 

"What's the matter, Sparrow?" Walter asks, frightened _. Is something wrong with the babe?_ He thinks to himself. _Did someone hurt her?_

 

"Do I need to call a healer?" Swift questions. _Whoever made her cry will beg for mercy._ Swift decides.

 

"I'm  _fine._ " Sparrow says, her sobs quieting into hiccups. 

 

"Clearly you're not." Swift raises an eyebrow.

 

"We're not as dumb as we look." Walter adds, looking equally unimpressed.

 

"I'm just," She pauses, looking more vulnerable than they had ever seen or imagined she could look. " _terrified_."

 

"Of what, Dear Queen?" Walter asks, looking determined. "Tell us and we'll head off immediately to kill it."

 

"It's been a while since I've had a good fight." Swift nods.

 

She is quiet for a moment, weighing her decision.

 

"Have you ever heard of the Day of Sorrow?" She asks, making her choice.

 

Swift looks thoughtful. "All I know is that some tragedy occurred, I was stationed on the borders at the time."

 

"Aye, I as well." Walter answers. "All I know was that it was some kind of unspeakable event."

 

"Yes." She replies. "A great tragedy happened. It struck down many innocents and left a bloody footprint in Albion's history." She looks out the window. " _It happened to me_."

 

 

She tells them then, of finding silent houses and bodies left to rot. Of small graves and lost dreams.

 

They sit with white knuckles, straining themselves in anger.

 

" _That will never happen again!_ " Walter swears.

 

" _Over our dead bodies!_ " Swift practically shouts. 

 

"You'll take care of him, then?" she asks quietly, "if something ever happens to me?" She knows with something very deep in her that she’s having a boy.

 

" _Of course!_ " They both answer strongly.

 

Sparrow can't help but smile at their passion. 

 

If a warm feeling spreads in her heart, she's quick to ignore it.

 

(She’s not very successful.)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you got questions, read the note at the bottom first.

She doesn't see Reaver again until Logan is 6.

 

He strolls through her garden, like he belongs, and sits right next to her.

 

"It's been a while." She says calmly, watching her son play. Her hand ever so slightly twitches toward her pistol.

 

Anna and Jasper had a day off today. Swift and Walter were out taking care of some things. Her guards are nowhere in sight. If Reaver makes a move toward her or her child, she is the only one standing in the way.

 

"I decided to keep away, so I didn't kill you on sight." He replies with a smile. "I don't like it when my property runs out on me."

 

"I don't belong to you." She states firmly.

 

"Of course, you do." He rolls his eyes. "You have been since you let me kiss you, since I touched you, since I made you _come apart_." He growls and rests his hand possessively on her upper thigh.

 

" _Reaver_." She gasps, thank Avo her son has made his way to the other side of the garden out of sight.

 

"I've got some business to take care of, Little Dove." He tells her, ignoring her plea. "But then I'm going to come calling."

 

He gets up and she hears him walk away. She doesn't dare look. 

 

"Until we meet again." He calls over his shoulder.

 

 

Ten months later, the Princess of Albion and the Queen's final child is born.

 

Sparrow takes one look at her.

 

" _Rose_." She breathes. "Her name is Rose."

 

Logan is sitting beside her in her bed, mesmerized by his little sister. Swift and Walter look like proud fathers whispering about all their going to teach her alongside Logan. Anna and Jasper scold them for being so loud.

 

_This is my family._  Sparrow thinks.

 

She smiles. 

 

 

 

 

**Bonus: Reaver**

 

He is always there, whether his Little Dove knows it or not.

 

He keeps his distance, of course. He is lacking the proper emotional capability and initiative to partake in her domesticity.

 

He wonders though, to his constant annoyance.

 

_What would have happened if his soul wasn't so twisted?_

 

He'd be dust in the ground.

 

_What if he and Sparrow could have worked out?_

 

See the answer to question 1.

 

_Is that his father's eyes on the little prince and his mother's smile on the princess?_

 

He already knows the answer.

 

 

There's no logical reason to be attached, yet he keeps monthly reports on them.

 

 

When Sparrow dies he laughs bitterly.

 

_All the foes you defeated, and you die from a lucky hit off a bloody Balverine?_

 

 

When Logan becomes a tyrant King, he smiles coldly.

 

_Apparently, it's hereditary._

 

 

When Rose defeats the Crawler and seals her place as Queen he cries.

 

_It hasn't taken them yet, that old enemy of his, but one day it will._

 

 

The unspoken truth lies between himself and Sparrow's children, straining their every interaction. It is never acknowledged.

 

_"You reap what you sow."_  A voice whispers. It sounds suspiciously like the old blind woman with the atrocious fashion sense.

 

Still, he finds he cannot argue with her logic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I feel the need to sort of explain the whole thing between Reaver and Sparrow. He does not rape her, but there is some dubious consent going on because their attraction to each other is really twisted and fucked up. It's the whole "drawn to the void" thing for Sparrow and the whole "wanting to corrupt something so bright and shiny" thing for Reaver. (Though I do imply he low key has feelings for her at the end.)


End file.
